Improvement in car-couplings



R. S. RUSSELL. Gar-Coupling. No. 208,694. Patented Oct. 8,1878.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

ROBERT S. RUSSELL, OF BROWNSYILLE, TEXNESSEE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,694, dated OctoberH, 1 application [ilcd March 2, 1879.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RoBERT S. RUssELL, of Brownsville, in the county ofHaywood and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and ImprovedGar-Coupling; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is alongitudinal section of my improved coupling with the weighted cylinderin place. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the cylinder removed; and Fig. 3is a transverse section.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawings denote thesame parts.

My invention has for its object to improve the construction of carcouplings, whereby they are rendered more eflicient in operation, moreeconomical in construction, and less liable to be injured by snow andice than those generally in use at this time.

To this end the invention conssits in a certain novel construction ofthe various parts, which I will now proceed to describe, and point outparticularly in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the buffer or coupling-head, castwith an open bottom, B, a convex top, 0, and with curved shoulders D Dat or near the rear end of its interior, as shown. The inner proximatefaces of its side walls are recessed in front of the shoulders D, aroundthe lateral holes E, so as to form inclined shoulders or guideways Efrom the holes downward a short distance toward the mouth.

F is the cylinder, cast with an eccentric opening, G, so as leave aheavy weighted side on one side the opening, and through such opening ispassed a rod, H, whose ends rest upon the guideways E, for the purposeof rolling up and down the same when the weighted cylinder is in place.The rod is applied by being inserted through one or the other of theholes in the sides of the buffer, as will be readily understood, theholes being afterward closed by headed pins or set-screws I. Theseset-screws not only prevent the casual removal of the rod, but excludedirt, &c., from its ends, which form the journals of the cylinder, and

travel. They may be easily removed, when necessary, to lubricate suchjournals or to remove or adjust the rod.

J is the coupling-pin, constructed with an enlarged lower end, andinserted in the buffer from the bottom opening B up through the raisedcollar K, surrounding the upper pinhole, receiving upon its upper end aring or other equivalent device, firmly fastened to it to prevent itfrom dropping out of the buffer. The upper pin-hole is of such diameterthat the pin will work freely through it, but is too small to allow theenlarged point of the pin to pass. By this construction the pin issecurely attached to the buffer, and cannot therefore be stolen orremoved, but is always in place ready for use. It may also be fastenedto the car by a chain or other connection to facilitate its operation;but this is not absolutely essential, it being lifted out in any of thewell-known ways in use on passenger, box, and platform cars.

When the coupling is in use, the couplinglink L rests upon the bottom ofthe buffer, with the pin through it and the weighted cylinder restingupon its inner end, such cylinder playing freely back and forth by meansof its journals on the guideways, and along the curved shoulders I) D,as the motion of the cars changes the position of the link.

To uncouple the cars, the pin is lifted up by any suitable means, whenthe cylinder will roll down to the mouth of the bufler, so as to bringthe notch min its upper or least-weighted side directly under the pointof the pin, to hold the latter in its raised position. The link is theneasily withdrawn.

The shoulders at the front of the guideways limit the forward movementof journals of the cylinder, and only allow the latter to swing and rolldown to the mouth of the buifer the required distance, while theeccentric weight of the cylinder insures the proper position of thenotch m under the point of the pin every time the latter is raised.

The link is always held in a horizontal position ready for coupling bythe weight of the cylinder on its inner end, thereby avoiding the dangerincident to the use of ordinary couplings, where the link is held up byhand from the guideways upon which such journals I to effect thecoupling.

In coupling the cars, the end of the link passes under the weightedcylinder, lifting it upward and backward, thereby releasing thecoupling-pin, which then drops down through the link in front of thecylinder, when the latter again sinks to its place on the inner end ofthe link, and holds it in a horizontal position.

By constructing the bufl'er with the convex top it readily sheds snowand ice, while the opening B in the bottom prevents the accumulation ofsnow and ice in the interior to obstruct the working of the cylinder.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Acar-coupling consisting, essentially, of an eccentrically-weightedcylinder, combined with the bufl'er, coupling-pin, and link,substigitially as described, for the purpose specifie 2. The combinationof the eccentricallyweighted cylinder and its rod H with the guideways Eof the buffer, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of set-screws or plugs with the lateral rod-holes Ein the sides of the buffer, substantially as described, for the purposespecified.

4. The bufi'er constructed with the convex top, the open bottom B, theinterior rearcurved shoulders D D, and the interior guideways E in theside walls, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

ROBT. S. RUSSELL.

Witnesses:

THOMAS BOND, W. IVIE WESTBROOK, W. B. BOOKER.

